My little exalted
by TheGreenGiant
Summary: Exalted in Equestria! Will Nightmare Moon be able to defend her kingdom against these new invaders?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

It was during the first day of Calibration they breached the gates of the Mound of Forgotten Seeds, the fortress of the Deathlord known as the Dowager of the Irreverent Vulgate in Unrent Veils. The armies of light and death clashed within its endless halls for five days, commanded by their Exalted generals. At the last day of calibration, the champions of the light struck a decisive blow to the forces of darkness by releasing the demon Ligier upon their ranks.

Now the Deathlord was facing the three Solars commanding the attack. Siegfried, the Dawn cast general who defeated her Abyssal exalted, Ironskin, the nigh-invulnerable Zenith cast whose voice could sooth the restless dead themselves and Spark, the Zenith cast whose magic summoned Ligier to creation.

For hours they fought, each side exhausting their resources until Siegfried stood above the Deathlord, ready to strike the finishing blow. As he lowered his grand daiklaive, the Deathlord saw no escape from her demise but one: the well of Urd. Before the blow could be stroke, she pulled her bow's string and powered the shot with the last of her remaining motes. A projectile of pure necrotic essence struck the well's side, shattering its structure and destabilising the singularity it contained. In an instant, it swallowed everything in the room as well as the room itself; soon followed by a whole chunk of creation and the underworld before it collapsed, swallowing itself.

They fell for what seemed like an eternity. Through the Wyld they fell until they reached the Void beyond. Even in that spaceless and timeless place they still fell, but this time towards something. A multitude of points of light surrounded them, like stars in a night sky; most of them white while others were of colors none of them ever saw before. As they moved through the Void, one of the points rapidly grew bigger and bigger; until all they saw was an infinitely large wall of white light. Some of the debris of the castle in front of them touched the barrier and seemed to disintegrate at its contact. They tried to change their trajectory but there is no such thing as direction in the Void. Right as they were about to hit the wall, for only the briefest of moments, Spark felt a presence watching them. It lasted for just a moment however as he and his companions smashed through the barrier. They felt her bodies being torn apart and their souls consumed by an endless light as consciousness left them.

Author's notes:

Hi there everypony. First of all, I want to thank you for reading my fic. It is the very first one I ever wrote and it is a whole new experience to me. A couple of quick notes before we proceed to the first part of the story.

First, I am writing assuming readers have at least basic knowledge of the Exalted setting and mechanics. If you don't, the story will still be understandable but could be confusing at times (especially if you arn't familiar with the concept of perfect effects).

Second: I wasn't able to get any proofreader of editor for this story, if you are interested, please contact me at .com

Comments and (constructive) criticism always welcome.

Thank you.

TheGreenGiant


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Crash-landing**

**Nightmare moon**

Nightmare moon was on the balcony of her room, gazing at her night sky, her perfect and eternal night sky, when something disturbed it. A white flash of light eclipsed a large portion of the sky. Three golden points fell towards the ground, leaving a long streak behind them like comets. She frowned. What was this? Some kind of trick her sister devised? No it was impossible, not from her current prison. As she was lost in her thoughts, the points got closer and closer until they were brighter than any star in the sky. She quickly realised that one of them was coming towards the castle itself and as she was about to intercept it, she noticed a fourth point. She nearly missed it as it passed before a particularly bright part of the sky. It was black. Not the deep blue color of the sky and not the comforting darkness of the night. It was the kind of darkness from witch every living thing instinctively knew to run away from. It was as if a piece of death itself fell through her night sky. The four points landed simultaneously, one of them right at the base of the mountain. After instructing her guards to retrieve whatever it was that fell down, she returned to her stargazing.

**Spark**

As Spark opened his eyes, he saw he was in an unknown room. The richly decorated walls of stone lit by torches made him think of last-century Great-Forks architecture except for the symbolism on the tapestry witch didn't fit the region's culture. He tried to move and realised he was still in his armor. "The blasted thing has died again." he thought as he mentally launched the boot sequence. His armor quickly came alive and ran its routine diagnostics. Before he could even move, warning appeared in his HUD, warning him it found anomalies during the scan. "More details." he thought, the armor complying with his mental command. "Unrecognised morphic field detected. Applying temporary patch to armor's movement algorithms. Please wait..." a message appeared on top of his new body schematics. He was a horse and a misshaped one at that; he looked like something a child would draw. "What the hell?"

He stood up quickly, scaring the nurse who was approaching his side of the bed. She let out a cute little yelp that made Spark turn his head. What he saw confused him even more. A small horse, as small as a pony, stood at the side of his bed. Her pastel coloured green coat and pink mane were covered with a white nurse outfit and hat. She was adorable. He also noticed two black unicorns with deep blue armor standing guard on each side of the door, staring at him. Now sitting on the bed, he took a better look around. The room was well lit and spacious, several torches on the wall illuminating it with orange light; a lone window revealing a starry sky. Richly crafted tapestry hung on the wall and the bed itself was obviously not something anyone could afford.

The nurse took a step forward. "Hmm, excuse me sir?" Spark turned to face her. "I am here to check on your vitals if that's alright with you."

Spark stood still for a moment, asking his armor to check his vitals. As everything came back green, he said "My vitals are normal, no need to check them. But I would like to know where I am right now."

"Oh you are in a guest room in Canterlot's castle. Do you remember your name or where you came from?" she asked tentatively.

"By the Unconquered Sun its so cute." he thought as he answered her questions. "Yes, my name is Sparkling Mask but you can call me Spark and I come from..." he paused for a moment. "Well you could say the last place I was in was called the Mound of Forgotten Seeds."

"You seem to have recovered quite fast for someone who fell from the sky. I guess it was a good thing that house softened your fall. Hum someone will come to ask you a couple of questions. Please be cooperative." She said as she walked towards the door.

The guards let her through and closed the doors behind. Spark took the occasion to analyse the armor's diagnostics. It didn't make sense for this to exist without any trace of Wyld and the ambient essence signature was too different for it to be a part of creation. He tried to remember what happened after the Deathlord shattered the well of Urd but his memory was hazy at best. After a couple of minutes, the door opened, letting in yet another pony. "They seem to run the place" he thought. "I wonder if there are any humans here."

The pony that entered the room was followed by two others. They were all dressed in tight black leather and sported a whip at their side. A spark of cruelty shone in the eyes of the first one. Her pale yellow coat and pink mane violently contrasting with her outfit. The other two were pure contrasts of each other. One's coat pink and mane light blue while the other one's colors were inverted. The guards became suddenly very tense.

He sighed. "Even here evil doesn't seem to know what subtlety is"

They walked to the side of his bed and sat down in front of him. "Hello Mr Spark." said the yellow one with a cold and dominant voice. "My name is Fluttershy and I am here to ask you some questions. Now you will be a good boy and answer them all or else..." she finished her sentence with an ominous tone.

To her surprise Spark chuckled. "Or else what? You do realise I am inside an Orichalcum armor right? What do you expect do to with your whips? Scratch the paint?"

"Well..." she began but was cut by Spark "And you should really wear something else. I would have answered at least some of your questions if you weren't wearing something that screamed 'I AM EVIL' so much."

"But..."

"No buts little thing! What kind of moron you think I am?"

Fluttershy frowned "A huge moron! There is no escape from this place little pony. We are several hundred feet over the ground and your armor won't protect you from all the castle guards." she smirked as Spark took a look at the window "Now we can do this the hard way or my way."

Spark was feeling weird. The pink pony's eyes were focused on him. Even through his armor's visor he could feel it hitting his psyche with the strength of a raging bull. His vision was narrowing into a tunnel; everything but her eyes was becoming dark and hazy. "I have to get out of here." he thought. With great effort, he broke his eyes from her stare.

For a moment it seemed to Fluttershy like time itself was suspended, she was petrified. Somepony has broken through her Stare. "Impossible." she thought. A second later, she saw Spark jumping towards the window. A futile attempt. Even if he dies Twilight will be able to question his soul. But at her surprise, the moment he smashed through the window there was a bright golden light under his hooves as he started his armor's thrusters.

He quickly picked up speed. Two pegasi were now pursuing him but his speed was far greater. He decided to land inside the city, near the wall. Once on the ground, he engaged his armor's stealth field and ran through empty alleys and roads of the city. After being sure he wasn't pursued anymore, he retracted his armor. It folded on itself neatly into two red and gold saddlebags on his flanks, revealing his white coat and red mane. His face, however, was covered by a beautifully crafted golden mask; so perfect it made the prettiest of faces look like a rotten fruit in comparison and so polished the stars themselves could admire their reflection in it.

And so Spark trotted into the streets of Canterlot in search of what he loved most: knowledge.

**Siegfried**

Some hundred miles from there, Siegfried awoke. He was in a damp room, the only light coming from under the wooden door. He stood up on his rear legs and promptly fell down. There was something wrong with his body, he realised as he hit the floor with a loud crash. Unable to see, he spent a mote to make his anima glow a soft golden light. He saw he was inside what was obviously a cell. Roughly cut stone walls and uneven floor with only a pile of hay on the ground. Looking at his body, he felt something he didn't feel in a very long time: fear. He was a horse; an Orichalcum clad horse but still a horse. "By the stars, what is the meaning of this!" he shouted with a strong voice.

He got up on all four and moved around. The room wasn't very large and didn't allow for broad movements but it was still enough for him to get his bearings. He then summoned his blade from Elsewhere, took it with his mouth and nonchalantly sliced the door in half, troubled by how it seemed natural for him to use his weapon with his mouth. Crashing through what remained standing of the door with the grace of an elephant in a porcelain shop; he walked outside, his golden aura dying out.

Looking around, he saw he was inside a cavern, his cell being at the end of a tunnel. Torches illuminating the path, he walked towards the other end of the tunnel. As he reached an intersection, he heard the distinct sound of someone hitting his head on his armor (it happened more often than people might think). Looking down, he saw two creatures. One was taller than the other and looked like a zebra and was rubbing her head with her hoof, she was about half his size. The smaller one looked like a miniaturised pastel coloured horse with a pale green coat and white hair.

"What the..." he said, surprised at the two creatures before him.

"Oh hello, you might want to watch where you go." said the zebra.

He banished his sword to Elsewhere. "Hello" he answered, unsure if it was a sane thing to talk to her. He still remembered that time with the Fair Folks and the cats.

She smiled at him. "You shouldn't be so tense, you are amongst friends. Zecora is my name, mister golden mane. Now that you have mine, I would like yours if you don't mind."

Siegfried frowned. "I am Siegfried and friends usually don't lock me inside a cell."

The little horse looked up at him. "That is not a cell mister, it's a room." she said with a cheerful voice.

"A most comfortable one too, only Harry has another one like you."

Siegfried just nodded.

The zebra turned around and started walking away, followed by the filly. "You must be hungry, come with me and we fill your belly."

Siegfried silently followed them outside. Outside the cave he saw a small settlement, a dozen of poorly made houses were build around a clearing in the forest; a small fire burning in the middle. He noticed he was unable to see the sky; it was covered by an impossibly dense amount of tree branches, as if someone artificially guided their growth. But the trees were leafless and looked dead; not only the ones covering the camp but also those all around it.

He walked behind them until they got to the fireplace, ponies staring at him as he walked past them. He smiled as he realised he kept at least one thing from his body: his height. He was still easily twice the size of the tallest one he saw.

As they arrived at the fire, Zecora joined another pony by the fire. Her mane was the same color as her blue coat except for a white stripe. An hourglass cutie-mark was on her flanks. They spoke briefly in a hushed tone. She gave a look at Siegfried and nodded. The blue pony walked to him and introduced herself. "Hi there, they call me Colgate. I was told your name was Siegfried, nice to meet you." She said as she extended her hoof.

Siegfried didn't move for a moment as he looked at her extended hoof. "Is this how they greet each others in here too?" He extended his armored hoof. She grabbed it and shook it vigorously. She smirked "Not a big talker are you? It's alright I can talk for two. So what brings you here Siegfried? Our nice scenery or our fascinating and unique wildlife?"  
>"Uh...nothing?" he said tentatively.<p>

She chuckled. "Well unfortunately were all out of that. But maybe I can interest you in some food?"

He gave a small nod. "Food is good."

"Not really but food is still food." She pointed at a pile of hay. "Sit here while we bring you some."

After a minute, a stallion brought him a bowl full of some sort of white goo. He took a lick. It tasted bad but he could tell it was nourishing. He started eating and finished the whole thing in a moment. It wasn't good but still better than some other things he ate in life. He remembered that time when a Fair Folk tricked him into tasting a soup made of disgust; he never saw food in the same way again. He licked his lips, once again troubled by how it all came naturally to him. He didn't even try to use his hands to help himself.

Just as he was about to thank them, a pegasus flew in at high speed from the forest and crash landed in front of Colgate and Zecora. "They are coming. A whole detachment of one hundred earth ponies and at last three unicorns are coming this way." The zebra and the blue pony looked at each other worryingly. Colgate looked at Siegfried. "Damn, that's the whole regional garrison. They are certainly coming for you."

"Me? Why?".

"Well let's just say you made quite an impression when you dropped from the sky. At first we thought it was a meteor. I still can't believe you survived the impact."

"I'm tough."

"I don't doubt it, especially with that armor or yours. It's Orichalcum isn't it?"

"Yes."

She turned back to Zecora. "Right, we have to move! They will search the region and I don't think they will miss us." Zecora nodded and was about to run off to organise the evacuation when Siegfried interrupted her. "Wait. I will take care of it." he said as he stood up, his towering height adding a sense of inevitability to his words.

Zecora turned around to face him. She took a step forward and raised her head to meet his eyes. "You may be tall but their numbers are not small. Better come with us and help where you can most." To that, Siegfried stomped the ground with his front hoof as he lowered his head to Zecora's level and told her with an angry voice. "I never flee from battle little zebra. I move forward as whole armies route around me and face my enemies until they are beaten to submission or dead." With that, he took off; rapidly trotting in the direction the pegasus came from.

"I think I better follow him." said Colgate as she ran after him. "Continue the evacuation." she shouted to Zecora.

She silently followed Siegfried through the forest. The large pony didn't seem to be aware of her presence; she was sneakier than most ponies would think. After half an hour, he stopped and stood still. Colgate quickly hid behind a tree. She looked in his direction and saw what had made him stop: the lights of the torches the small army was carrying. She saw as Siegfried made a golden sword, about his size in height, appear out of thin air and took it in his mouth. She saw him approach the soldiers. As they spotted him, they demanded he surrender. She heard him shouting "Those who surrender to me will not die, but serve for the glory of the chosen of the sun." She heard the laughs as she moved to a better vantage point and as she got a good look at the whole picture, she saw him charge the whole squadron by himself. "This is it, the moment of truth." she told herself; the moment her suspicions about this weird pony would either be confirmed or invalidated. What she saw, however, was beyond what she had expected. Siegfried tore through the earth ponies rank as if they were made of paper; his huge sword slicing through flesh and armor with barely a sign of resistance; his body emitting a golden light who only grew stronger every time he took a swing. The three unicorns tried to control him with their spells but their heads went off as he got to them with an impossibly long jump. In just a few moments, half of the soldiers were dead and the rest scattered into the forest. Only one of them remained, facing the huge golden killing machine with nothing but his bare hooves and a useless armor.  
>She was having doubts. Sure he was good at fighting, frighteningly good, but he didn't seem like the kind of pony who could help the resistance. But still she watched him, wondering what he would do with this lone survivor.<p>

"What is your name?" asked Siegfried.

"S-Silver Rock" answered the terrified soldier.

He snorted, as if amused by the name . He looked down upon the silver maned grey stallion and spoke with a solemn voice. "No. I have killed Silver Rock here and now. I give you the name Stalwart Guardian of the Sun."

The colt was at loss for words. "Wha-? But!"

Siegfried turned around and started walking towards the refugee village. "Come with me if you want to live and you shall know glory." The colt followed silently and his body emitted a pale golden light for a moment.

Colgate started running to the camp; she didn't want him to know she saw it all. She needed time to think about what happened, especially that last part; she wasn't sure she understood exactly what he did there and why.

Siegfried got back to the village some minutes after Colgate; she had already spread the news of the army's defeat. The refugees were all staring at him, some frightened at the presence of an enemy soldier in their camp, others simply curious as to how he could have defeated a hundred soldiers by himself.

Siegfried walked to Colgate and Zecora, who were waiting for him by the fireplace. "I must be going." he said gravely. "If I stay here they will send more, they always do."

Colgate frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"This is not the first time I do this kind of thing. Most military leaders are stupid enough to have their soldiers slaughtered by the hundreds before realising there are some thing they just can't defeat. They will send more"

"Alright but where will you go?" asked Colgate.

"I... don't know"

"Well then I have an idea!" she said cheerfully. "I will come with you and take you somewhere you will be able to use your full potential for the good of everypony. How does that sound?"

Siegfried was silent for a moment as he thought about it. "Alright I will follow you. But aren't you the leader of this village?"

"Not really. Well, not officially. I'm sure Zecora will do a great job here." she smiled at the zebra. "Let me get my things and let's get going." She said her goodbyes to the zebra and the villagers and was soon ready to go.

As they left the camp, she turned towards the stallion. "Alright big guy, I'm going to lead you to the resistance's headquarters but I need to know if bringing this one is safe." she pointed at the colt.

Siegfried nodded. "Yes, he is now under my command."

"Alright if you say so. As one of my friends used to say: Allons-y!"

**Ironskin**

Ironskin woke up in chains to the sound of a crowd cheering. At least he thought he was as what he saw looked more like horse hooves than his usual hands. He moved and to his surprise the hooves moved in the exact same manner his hands and legs would have. "Well that's new. Did a Fair Folk get me while I was sleeping?" he thought to himself. He stood up heavily, his head throbbing in pain. He realised he was completely naked except for the manacles around his hooves; his skin covered with an earth brown coat, his forest green mane falling over his eyes. He shook his head to get it out of his face. Right as he was taking a look around, another loud cheer made him wince in pain. He was in a cell, the walls were made out stone but they looked like they were painted in a bright yellow pastel color, same as the brown door; it was all just so... unnatural. The cell was illuminated through its only window, a small gap on the far wall through which the light of the sunset bathed the whole room.

With him inside the cell were two creatures; the most adorable little things he ever saw. A small horse, easily a pony, was sitting in the corner opposite of him. She had a deep orange coat and white mane with big adorable blue eyes that were at this moment filled with fear. Behind her was an even smaller pony curled up in a ball, this one with a cyan coat and yellow mane. The larger one quickly adopted a defensive position as she realised he was looking at them.

Ironskin scratched his head with his hoof. He took pose he thought would be the most non-threatening and smiled at them. They were just so cute. Making his voice as soft as he could, he spoke. "Hello? Can you understand me?" The larger pony nodded. At that Ironskin rolled his eyes. "It seems I speak horse now." He sighed deeply. "So, where are we anyway and what is this place?"

The larger one stood still for a moment, as if she was mustering the courage to talk. As she finally opened her mouth, another loud cheer erupted from somewhere and made Ironskin's head throb with pain. The two fillies huddled closer as they heard the noise, trembling with fear.

"Oww my head. I must have felled pretty hard to have such a strong headache." he remarked as he rubbed his forehead with his hoof. "Now would you two please tell me where we are?"

The orange filly replied with a trembling voice. "We are under the Buffaloville arena sir."

"The what ville arena?"

"Buffaloville." she repeated to the stallion.

"What's a buffalo?"

Tears appeared in her eyes as she answered, she barely held back a sob. "You'll see soon enough, they said we were up next once you woke up." The younger filly was now crying in the older one's coat.

Ironskin simply smiled at them. "An arena eh? Good, I haven't had a good arena match in a while." He got closer to them, as close as his chains allowed him to. "Now listen, once we are out there you two just stay behind me and everything will be alright." As they heard his reassuring words, it was as if the fire of hope was reignited in their hearts, burning like a warm sun. The two fillies smiled back at him and nodded. "My name is Ironskin by the way. What are yours?"

"My name is Orange Sundae and this is Sunny Ray." the older one answered.

"Well then nice to meet you. Now if you don't mind I would like to be done with this as soon as possible." He then turned to the door and yelled. "Guards! Guards! We are ready to enter the arena!"

A moment of silence, then the clopping of several pairs of hooves. After a moment, the door opened and revealed three buffalo guards. This was not a sight Ironskin was expecting, three huge balls of brown fur mounted on such small legs. He was expecting something more dangerous and feral-looking, like a Tiger or a Tyrant-Lizard. But with this, he was taken aback.

"So you are the little pony who is so eager to die?" said the middle guard. "Alright the arena can always use more fodder. Take them."

They uncuffed Ironskin and escorted the three of them through several corridors until they reached a large underground chamber. Ironskin knew this kind of place; it was here the gladiators and slaves got prepared for a match. "I was wearing my armor before you guys caught me, could I please have it back?" he asked nicely. So nicely in fact it cost him a couple of motes.

"Sorry, sold it to some merchant while you were sleeping. Made quite a lot of bits on it too."

Anger flared in Ironskin's eyes. "You WHAT?"

The guard frowned and came face-to-face with Ironskin. "We sold it. You have a problem with that?"

Ironskin said nothing, he simply stared the buffalo in the eyes. The guard felt as his gaze burned through his very soul, searing it with righteous anger. After a few seconds, he was sweating profusely. A few moments more his knees were trembling. And a minute later he collapsed on the ground, crying, barely managing to mumble "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Ironskin turned around and faced the arena door. "Let's go ladies." he nonchalantly said to the two fillies. He trotted happily to the door and smashed them opened with his hooves as the other buffalos watched him passed speechlessly. He climbed the dark stairs leading to the arena, blinded by the setting sun as he left the shadows. He stopped for a moment, troubled. He had been blinded by the sun. "Impossible" he said to himself, as he resumed his trot.

The arena floor was covered in the same yellow sand as the cell but littered with dried pools of blood. As he entered the arena proper, an exclamation of surprise came from the public. He quickly saw he wasn't alone; it appeared to Ironskin as is a piece of the night sky had fallen to the ground and took the shape of a bull, complete with constellations and horns. The beast didn't react right away as it seemed to be busy trampling the corpse of whatever creature it had caught a moment ago. Ironskin raised an eyebrow. "Well that's new" he mumbled as the bull turned his head to face the new challenger. He turned his head to the two terrified fillies. "Stay here you two, it will only take a moment." he said with a soothing voice, the two ponies visibly relaxing.

"What is this? A new challenger has appeared!" declared the announcer as he noticed the newcomer.

The bull turned his enormous body towards them and snorted heavily, the arena's spectators cheering on the incoming massacre. Ironskin stood up on his hind legs and declared with his booming voice "TODAY THE WICKED SHALL TREMBLE AND THE GUILTY REPENT FOR I AM IRONSKIN, THE UNMOVABLE PILLAR OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!". The spectators cheering died down as the bull charged, his weight shaking the earth itself. Ironskin dropped down on all four and galloped towards the bull. Right as the two opponents were about to meet, Ironskin jumped in the air and spinned on himself, delivering a kick charged with blazing golden essence. The bull, being but a simple beat in mind, smashed Ironskin's hooves with its forehead. The spectators saw nothing but a bright golden explosion of light as the kick connected, quickly followed by the bull dropping dead on the ground, his momentum perfectly nullified by Ironskin's strike. He dropped right along the bull, giving a satisfied grin as he checked its smashed skull.

The spectators were silent. For a moment, not even the wind dared to blow as Ironskin stared at them. He gazed at the arena's attendants, buffalos, griffins, bears, stags and all sorts of other wildlife. He looked at them and made sure his angry gaze was something every single one of them would remember for the rest of his life; a dim golden aura enveloping his body. After what seemed like hours, he stood again on his hind legs and declared "NO MORE!" and everyone in attendance knew there would be no more. The spectators stood up and began to vacate the arena, all trapped in a hypnotic stupor.

Ironskin trotted back to the two fillies. "Come." he told them. They stood up and followed. They walked back through the door and back inside the arena waiting room. The first guard was still sobbing on the ground and the second one cowering in a corner. "You!" he pointed his hoof at him. "Go and assemble all the prisoners detained here and bring them to me."  
>The guard gave him a look of pure terror. "Y-yes sir. Please don't hurt me sir." he mumbled with a trembling voice as he ran away from the object of his fear.<p>

Some minutes later, some twenty ponies of all color and gender were assembled in the room. While most were earth ponies, to Ironskin's surprise, there were also two unicorns and three pegasi amongst the number. "Horses with wings. I have to have Spark make me on one of these one day" he said to himself as he jumped on a small crate.

"Listen you all. I am setting you free and will get you out of here. I have to admit I am not familiar with this region so I will need someone who will take care of giving us directions. Who can do that?"

A red coated pegasus with a cyan mane raised her hoof. "Me sir, I used to be a mailmare, I know the region like the back of my hoof." Ironskin didn't fail to notice the post stamp that was adorning her flanks.

"Very well then, lead the way miss...?"

"Blue Streak. First class express mailmaire and fastest flyer of Equestria." she said proudly

Ironskin led them out the arena and out the town. Under the eternally setting sun of the desert they walked and into the darkness they went; back to the eternal night of Equestria. 


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: knowledge is magic**

**Spark**

Spark wandered around Canterlot for a while. He was at first trying to get his bearings right. This world was so different from his that he felt just looking at all the ponies going around their daily business. Once he was getting comfortable enough he politely asked for directions to the nearest library. He found the ponies very helpful and polite, something that was too rare in Creation. So after a bit of wandering he found himself facing the entrance to the royal library of Canterlot. As the doors were unlocked and unguarded, he stepped inside. The interior was richly decorated with carved wood and tapestry. Past the entrance counters, he could see seemingly endless rows of bookshelves filled to capacity, each several stories high.

He walked to the nearest counter, staffed by an elderly mare librarian; her coat and mane greyed out from age, glasses on her nose. Unsure of how things worked in here, he asked sheepishly "Hello is it possible to read some books?" The librarian looked at him as if it was the stupidest thing she ever heard. Then with a raspy voice she replied. "Of course you can, go knock yourself out young one." She coughed. "You can borrow three books for a month. Late fees are one bit per day per book." Spark nodded and as he ventured inside the library he thought he heard the old mare mutter something along the line of "Still dressing up at that age".

He passed the fiction and the biography section as he walked towards the far end of the library. He settled at a table at the history section, which was the best place to start he thought. Dropping his saddlebags, he decided to start with the beginning of section A and work his way to the section Z. He activated his Glorious Speed-Reading Meditation charm and started reading.

About ten hours later, he was done with fundamental magical theory. He was astonished how similar magic from Creation and magic from this world were similar on several levels. He dropped his book on the table amongst the rest the red little librarian pegasus pony hadn't yet returned to the shelves. She walked past Spark about two hours ago and as she saw the literal mountain of books surrounding him. She tried to shelve them but Spark was reading them faster than the frail pegasus mare could work. He picked up another book titled "Practical guide to Muffinmancy." and started reading. He was about halfway through when he felt someone reading over his shoulder. He turned his head and came face-to-face with a purple unicorn. After a moment of hesitation, he greeted her with a friendly voice. "Oh. Hello there."

"Hello." she answered. "Quite a mess you made here. The head librarian complained you read too much." She chuckled. "Usually she complains about how ponies don't read enough."

He put the book down and stood up. The unicorn was smaller than him, a purple coat with a purple streaked mane; a nasty scar running from her horn down to the middle of her right eyebrow. He also noticed the mark on her flanks: five small purple stars surrounding a larger one. "My name is Sparkling Mask, but you can call me Spark."

"My name is Twilight Sparkle." she answered, smiling at him.

Spark froze for a moment. Twilight Sparkle? Spark, Twilight cast Solar meeting someone called Twilight Sparkle. He laughed.

She frowned. "Did I say something funny?" the warmth in her voice gone.

He realised he must have offended her. He forced himself to stop laughing. "No sorry I just thought about something silly."

Her smile came back to her face. "Well Spark, its sure is nice to meet somepony else who loves to read as much as I do but I have to ask: why the mask?"

Spark touched his face with his right hoof. "Oh this? It's uh... part of a magical ritual. I have to wear it to cast some of my most powerful spells."

"Cast spells?" she asked incredulously. "But you're an earth pony, you have to have a horn to cast spells."

"Well one would think that at first but with what I read so far, any kind of life form could potentially be able to cast any spell. If we take Nexus Prime's theories and reach their logical conclusions, there is nothing preventing me from casting any kind of sorcery in this world. After all magic is nothing but a sympathetically resonant harmonic energy field."

She gave him a puzzled look. "Sorcery?" she shook her head. "But more importantly, how did you know about Nexus Prime's theories so much?"  
>"Simple, I read it in a book."<p>

She shook her head. "No, what I meant was how could you reach those conclusions? It took years of research and dozens of ponies to complete his works after he died and the books where the conclusions have been noted aren't even in this building."

"That may be so but I still got to read all he wrote while he was alive and that is enough to reach those conclusions. I have to admit I was a bit lost but it all came into place after the first few chapters of 'Theoretical Magic for Derpies'. That book was very eye-opening."

"But..." she stuttered. "It took so long to complete his works, you can't have done so in just a couple of hours."

"34 minutes actually. And yes I did, believe it or not. I'm rather smart when I put my motes to it."

She shook her head, incredulous. This pony was crazy; such ridiculous claims and wearing a mask in a library. Ok it was a very pretty mask, beautiful even, but still. "Alright then, let's say you really did what you claim, what do you think about Bright Star's works?"

"A bit on the stuck-up side. He too easily discards perfectly valid theories in order to advance his own views on magic. He does bring interesting things with his remote-viewing spells but he is forgettable beyond that."

Forgettable? Bright Star? This pony was now getting insulting; Bright Star was one of the greatest theoritician of divination magic. What followed between the two was one of the most heated and intense debate on the subject of theoretical magic ever recorded (even if nopony was actually recording it).

They both lost track of time and after hours of debating, they reached a stalemate, each one unable to come up with something new to say on the subject. The very foundations of Twilight's magical theories were shaken by this weird mask wearing pony. On the other side, Spark was astonished how a mortal could reach such a deep and subtle understanding of magical theories; he had seen Exalted sorcerers with much lesser grasp on what they were doing than this young pony.

Spark took a deep breath. "Now on another completely unrelated subject, I seem to have noticed that there is something wrong with the sky."

Twilight snapped out of the haze she had been for the last moments. "What's that?"

"I said there is something wrong with the sky. I have been here for over fifteen hours and the sun is still not up."

Twilight chuckled. "Well of course silly, night has lasted for well over three years now; since Nightmare Moon took over Princess Celestia."

Spark had a look of dawning realisation on his face. "Oh! You mean like in that "mare in the moon story?"

"Of course. But it wasn't a story, she really does exist. Where have you been all this time?" she asked, giving him an inquisitive look.

"Well, I'm still new here so..." he scratched the back of his head. "How about you help me put thing in place? You look like someone I could use to restore the balance of things." As he finished the sentence, he realised he just said something stupid. The look on Twilight's face went instantly from kind and cheerful to a cold stare full of murderous intent. Her face distorted with anger, she addressed him with a cold voice. "You would want me to get rid of my Queen? Traitor! I will get rid of you myself!"

Her horn started to glow as Spark had barely time to move. He jumped over the table and snatched his saddlebags right as an innumerable amount of books flew towards him like a wave. "And there I was all getting impressed with you." she yelled at him from behind the torrent of paper. "While all this time all you wanted was my help to usurp her throne." Spark jumped over a bookshelf, saving himself from the first wave. He started to run towards the exit as twilight lifted herself from the ground and floated above the bookcases. She unleashed the full fury of her inner librarian as books from everywhere around Spark started to converge on him.

To Twilight's astonishment, none hit. Spark moved like water, evading every single projectile with fluid motions. Something in his movements reminded Twilight of a light breeze passing through a field of tall green grass. She shook her head as the image passed through her mind, disturbing her more than she would care to admit.

Spark was now galloping at full speed and was nearing the exit. She realised her strategy wasn't working so she changed her approach. She teleported in front of Spark, cutting him from the exit. He stopped dead in his tracks, surprised by the filly's sudden apparition. She gave him a smug smile before wrapping him in her telekinetical field and lifting him off the ground. "Well then mister traitor, let's have a little chat." she said with a cold voice as she started to put pressure around his throat.

Spark was surprised; he wasn't expecting something like this. Still, there is always a way out. He smiled at her. Poor little deluded mortal, and she was so adorable. "Sorry but gotta fly." he said as he smacked one of his saddlebags. Instantly, it opened and his armor unfolded, covering him from head to hooves with a gold and red carapace. Twilight's jaw opened in astonishment as Spark waved her a goodbye and engaged his main thrusters, a bright golden light erupting from his back. He tore through her telekinetic field like paper as he smashed through the glass doors of the library at high speed, shattering them in pieces.  
>Twilight saw him fly away with wide eyes. "What the hay was that?" she said to herself, Spark quickly shrinking until he was but a bright dot amongst the night sky. She knew magic, she was privy to all of the latest technological developments and there was absolutely nothing coming even close to what she just saw.<p>

"I have to go talk to the others. There is something fishy going on."

**Siegfried**

After hours of walking Siegfried had enough; that little blue horse thing just wouldn't shut up. He had kept silent and had hoped she would take the hint but noooo she just had to go and talk about all sorts of boring things like cakes and parties and friendship and sunshine and toothpaste and toothbrushes and dental hygiene (she seemed to have some kind of weird fixation) and magic and then parties again and temporal distortions and happiness and laughter and cute things. He turned to Stalwart Guardian; his newfound underling didn't look bothered by her endless monologue as he stoically looked in front of him.

"And that's how Gallopfrey was made." said Colgate as she finished her nth story. "But now I'm tired so let's find a place to rest for today." she said

Siegfried didn't say a word and simply dropped on the spot, completely drained. He thought back and tried to think of another occasion on which he had been so exhausted and failed. his mind began to drift into the sweet sweet embrace of sleep when it was interrupted by Colgate. "Say, shouldn't you take that off? Don't tell me you sleep in your armor." she said with an amused grin.

"Usually, yes" he answered as he tried to fall asleep again.

She nudged him playfully in the shoulder. "Awww so cute. At least help me start the fire before you go to sleep."

His mind protested against this new disturbance. He suddenly stood up and stared at Colgate with an angry look. "Woman, you are infuriating! Can't you be silent for a moment?"

She chuckled. "Great now you're standing, got get me some dry wood."

Siegfried mumbled and went off into the woods. he came back moments later with a pile of dead wood in his mouth.

"Good boy, now you get to rest. "she said as she grinned at him.  
>In a normal situation, where Siegfried would have had more than the absolute minimum of his mind awake, she would have died on the spot for those words; but he was just so exhausted, so drained, he didn't care and simply dropped on the ground and fell asleep.<p>

"This one is fun to play with." Colgate said whispered cheerfully as she started the fire.

Siegfried woke up. At first he thought he barely slept as it was still night but his memories of the previous day quickly came back. He could see her at the light of the dying fire, sleeping besides Stalwart. Wait what? Stalwart was sleeping with that insufferable little thing? He will have to have a word with him. He stood up and stretched his legs. Yesterday's soreness and fatigue completely gone, he was ready to face whatever challenge was thrown at him. Except her. He shivered at the thought of another day travelling with her. He needed a solution. Maybe if he cut off her head... but then she wouldn't be able to lead him to the resistance's hideout. How frustrating. He was in an impasse.

He sat down by the fire and took a bite of his rations as his mind plunged into deep thinking mode and reviewed the events so far. He was a horse. In a world of talking horses. They were cute but annoying and weak and their world seemed to be plunged into eternal night. That last part he didn't like. Being a solar, it was his duty to preserve the prevalence of light upon darkness. He would have to learn more about that Nightmare Moon creature before engaging her as anything capable of stopping the resident Sol Invictus from performing his duties would have to be frighteningly powerful. That and he would have to find his two friends; Spark was obviously going to study these creatures and their ways and Ironskin would be invaluable at bolstering any armies' number and morale. Yes both were invaluable allies to him and losing them in such a weird environment made him feel... vulnerable. At the very instant he formulated that thought; something snapped inside of him and brought him back to reality. What was he thinking? Him? Vulnerable? What ridiculous thoughts! That little blue thing's monologues must be getting to him more than he thought. He looked around and noticed the other two were starting to wake up.

Stalwart was the first one to join him besides the fire. "Good day sir." he said as he saluted Siegfried who responded with a grumble. "What a nice night it is tonight." he added cheerfully. Siegfried's pupils shrunk. He turned his head to Stalwart first and then to Colgate, who was in the process of combing her mane. This must have been her doing. He always instructed his underlings not to speak unless spoken to. She must have somehow weakened his charm. "Woman. I don't know what you are up to but be warned: I'm watching you closely."

She chuckled. "Well thank you dear, I do like to have a man's attention." she said playfully as she started brushing her teeth.

After a silent breakfast (his favourite kind), they resumed their journey. "About six more hours before we get there boys. This travel reminds me of that time when I went to the sixth moon of -"

"SILENCE!" yelled Siegfried. "I've had it with you incessant blabbering. I don't care about your stories or your songs and there is only one moon and it is up there!"

Colgate stopped, surprised at the outburst. Stalwart's ears dropped on the side of his head.

She looked up at Siegfried with sadness. "You poor thing, you must really have such a boring life if you cannot open your mind a little." He was taken aback with the reaction. "Quickly, what would Ironskin say?" he asked himself.

"Err, an opened mind is easily taken?" he replied uncertainly.

"What? No I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say."

He sneered. "Oh I get it alright; you are trying to confuse me to create a weakness and then take advantage of it for some nefarious purpose! But too late, I have seen through your stratagem and will not fall into the trap!" He stood up, proud of himself. Then it hit him. Why was he talking so much? He should have already killed her; she was obviously trying to manipulate his mind as he saw Ironskin do so many times before. What was happening to him? He shook his head and gave them a confused look. "Whatever, let's get going." he said in a calm voice.

They resumed their journey and walked the six hours worth of road separating them from the resistance. Six hours of pure hell for Siegfried, who had to once again listen to the endless chattering of the blue unicorn. It was just as he was recalling the second battle of Chiaroscuro in a vain attempt to distract himself from her; eight ponies jumped out of the bushes and surrounded them. Siegfried cursed, how could he have been ambushed by little horses! What a shameful event for a warrior such as him.

One of the soldiers spoke. "Lady Colgate, we were not expecting you back so soon."

"I have brought guests for the Commander. Lead the way Green Hooves." she replied with an authoritarian tone.

"Yes Ma'am. You three come with me." he replied as he waved his colts.

Siegfried followed the newly-formed group, trotting at a brisk pace towards the forest's innards. They quickly reached a camp built around a gigantic hollowed-out tree. Scores of ponies were busily running around the tents and few were paying attention to them. They made their way through to the largest tent in the camp. Colgate nodded to the guards as she entered Siegfried and Stalwart following her in.

Siegfried quickly looked around and was pleased with what he saw: war. The tent's interior was littered with military maps and reports, the four ponies already inside cut in the middle of a heated argument on strategy. At least an environment in which he was feeling comfortable. As he took a closer look on the four ponies to evaluate them - a good general must be able to see the worth of a soldier at but a glance - he was greeted by the weirdest pair of eyes he ever saw. Two golden orbs, each one facing a different direction, turned their attention on him, quickly followed by the rest of the gray body, who also happened to sport a mane the same color as the eyes. Even if none of the eyes were technically focused on him, he felt as if its gaze pierced through his very soul; made it roll itself into a corner of his body, trembling in shock. Then the thing spoke, just as Siegfried was beginning to realise it was but another one of those little horses with wings, as he recovered from the experience.

"Hi my name is Ditzy Doo. What's your name?" It said with a friendly and warm voice, extending a hoof as if to shake his.

Mustering as much self-control as he could, he answered with a voice as calm as possible. "Siegfried."  
>Ditzy stood there, hoof still extended and waiting for a shake. After a moment, she dropped it down and tilted her head sideways. "Awww how cute, he is too embarrassed." She turned to Colgate. "Nice to see you again but wasn't your visit due for next week?"<p>

"Yes but I found this big fella and his little quiet friend at Zecora's camp and I thought we might use them with the next operation."

Ditzy thought about it for a moment. "Hmm we sure could use someone as strong-looking as him but is he any good in a fight? And what's with the armor? Can he even move in that?"

Somewhere deep in Siegfried's mind, a part of him registered a possible insult to his armor. He looked at Ditzy right in the eyes, the shock of the first contact now completely gone. "Of course I can move in this thing. I even sleep in it."

The others only managed to stay quiet for a second before bursting into laughter.

Siegfried was dumbfounded by the reaction. "It has an internal cleansing mechanism that keeps me clean."

Ditzy repressed another chuckle. "Ok big guy, but are you any good in a fight?"

He stood up on his hind legs, dominating them from his great height. "Of course I am! I fought against the First and Forsaken Lion. I have crossed blades against Ligier himself. I am the Arm of the Unconquered Sun and enemies of the light fall by the score before my might!" He dropped down on all four with a loud *thump*.

"That and he took on a whole division alone and won." added Colgate.

Ditzy simply nodded. "Alright you're in then. You better not disappoint me. Last time somepony sold himself like that was very small and powerless but since Colgate vouches for you I guess you'll be alright."

Siegfried nodded back. "Alright but you can't go on a rescue mission with such a bad plan."  
>Everypony else inside the tent gasped at the comment, well except for Stalwart who was still standing still and quiet.<p>

"Who told you we were going on a rescue mission?" asked Ditzy.

"No one, I just took a quick look at your table over there." he said as he pointed at a table covered in maps. "But you won't have much chance of success if your escape route is so weakly secured."

Ditzy looked impressed. "Well-"

"And that diversion you are planning with the fireworks? It won't work. You need something that will shake the guards to their very core."

"Yea but-"

"And you don't even have the precise location of the target. I see you are doing all this for only one individual but you should at least get the path right to the last detail. Who is it anyway?"

Colgate smiled. "Now I see you and Ditzy will get along just fine. And for who he is, let's just say he is a doctor. A very good doctor." 

**Ironskin**

Ironskin guided his flock through the desert. They walked and walked for what seemed like weeks (it was actually only days but an unmoving sun makes timekeeping a hard thing). The solar used his survival charms to tend to his followers and make sure none of them ever got hungry or thirsty. he made the very earth bleed water and even the most desiccated bushes bear fresh and juicy fruits. The ponies following him were talking about him as Celestia's messiah but he would only shake his head and tell them they were wrong.

As they crossed the desert towards the land of eternal night, formerly known as Equestria, they encountered other refugees settled in small camps. When those lost souls saw the saviour, they begged him to accept them in his flock as without him they were lost and hopeless. As a good Zenith cast, Ironskin welcomed all who were looking for salvation in His Righteous Light. he led them through the desert and into the land of eternal night to take back what was rightfully theirs, starting with the city of Manehattan. But something went wrong. On their way, they encountered ponies fleeing the same city they were trying to reach. Tales of great evil and horror were brought to Ironskin's ears as they told him about the walking dead and the darkness that was darker than even the darkest of nights.

Unwilling to believe something so horrible could have happened to the city, Ironskin set out to see what was happening for himself and soon had his worst fears confirmed: The whole of Manehattan had become a gigantic shadowland. there could be only one explanation for this tragedy: the Deathlord had followed them in this world.

His heart told him he needed to cleanse this new evil from the land but he knew he had no chance alone; he had to find Siegfried and Spark before they could take on the Deathlord and her new army. He came back to his flock and spread the bad news in a way that would avoid panic. They quickly decided to head to the nearby settler's town of Appeloosa.

As they set out on the road again, Ironskin was troubled. What would happen to this world's inhabitants? He had yet to encounter anything a Deathlord couldn't simply kill with a glance. On top of that, she would now have an army of millions if the survivors were to be believed about the city's population. And once she finishes turning this world into a world of living dead, what then? What if she finds back a way into Creation after she is done subduing life in this world? Who could stop an invasion of hundreds of millions of hungry ghosts and walking corpses? She had to be stopped, and soon, or there would be no tomorrow for this world or creation.

**Nightmare Moon**

**"HOW COULD HE HAVE ESCAPED YOU?**" The voice of Nightmare Moon resounded in the throne room, empty save for herself and two kneeling ponies; her night aura pouring out of her like a literal torrent of power.

Fluttershy raised her head and spoke with a trembling voice. "I-I didn't know he could fly your majesty. He just jumped down the window."

Nightmare Moon frowned at the answer. "**YOU SHOULD HAVE PURSUED HIM. YOU HAVE WINGS DON'T YOU?**" Fluttershy let out a barely audible squeak as she hid her head beneath her hooves. "**AND YOU TWILIGHT SPARKLE, I WONDER HOW AN EARTH PONY COULD HAVE ESCAPED YOU, THE MOST POWERFUL UNICORN IN ALL OF EQUESTRIA.**"

Twilight was averting her gaze from her queen, fearing her reaction at what she was about to say. After a moment hesitation, she answered. "He could use magic."

Silence fell in the throne room.

Nightmare Moon took a few steps forward and stared at Twilight from all her height **"I'M SORRY TWILIGHT SPARKLE BUT COULD YOU PLEASE REPEAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID? I THINK I MISHEARD YOU TAKING ME FOR A FOAL**."

Twilight felt as if her heart was about to burst. Her whole mind was telling her to run for it but she knew she would be dead before she even took more than ten steps. Mustering her courage, she repeated with a broken voice. "He could use magic."

"**IMPOSSIBLE! AN EARTH PONY CANNOT USE ANY MAGIC. BELIEVE ME ON THAT; I CREATED THEM**"

"I-I know your majesty but he knew so much about magic he even corrected me on some subjects. He knew about Nexus Prime and Bright Star to a level rivalled only by about ten unicorns in the world. But he was also surprised at how the night sky was eternal which makes about as much sense as his saddlebags in which he stored a full suit of armor that allows him to fly."

Nightmare Moon thought about it for a moment, calming down. "**I SEE. AND WHAT ABOUT THAT FLYING ARMOR? IT IS SOMETHING YOU BOTH SAW.**"

"It was pretty." said Fluttershy.

Twilight felt her courage coming back to her. "And it used magic to work. I felt it suck on the ambient magic field while he was wrapped inside my telekinesis spell."

Nightmare moon's aura receded to its normal level as she calmed down. "**Alright you two are dismissed. I need to tend to some urgent matters.**"

As the two ponies left her, she used one of her spells to turn her body into nightmare mist and flew out the window. This weird earth pony with his flying armor and the scattered but troubling reports from Manehattan were enough to make her nervous to a level she hasn't been since he tried to restore order. It was time to go into the deepest cell of the dungeon and check on her dear Doctor. 


End file.
